Rip Curl nabbed eight-time World Surfing Champion Stephanie Gilmore, with an eight-year sponsorship deal announced Friday.
The signing was valued by Rip Curl as a “multi-million-dollar deal.”
It follows news earlier this week that the company extended agreements with surfers Molly Picklum, Erin Brooks, Alyssa Spencer, and Crosby Colapinto.
The contract marks a return for Gilmore, who struck her first deal with Rip Curl in 2000. She was most recently sponsored by Roxy.
“The duration and scale of the agreement underscore the magnitude of Stephanie’s influence in the sport and confidence Rip Curl has in her continuing to build on this legacy,” the company said on its site, going on to say the deal “sets a new standard” for surf sponsorships.
A Rip Curl spokesman could not be immediately reached Friday for further comment on the deal and how the two will work together in the future.
The company said it supports Gilmore during her earlier announced decision to take a break from professional surfing in the current tour season.
Gilmore said in January she would focus her time off on projects and travel that she hadn’t been able to do while competing.
“This really feels like a new era in my career,” Gilmore said in the corporate announcement on the deal. “In taking a year off, my aim was to just go surfing. To reconnect with what surfing really means to me and how I can share that with the world. So when this opportunity came up to join The Search with Rip Curl, traveling the world, finding waves, having fun, it was the perfect alignment – there’s so much to be inspired about.”
“The Search” is a reference to the brand’s tag line.
Gilmore is expected to return to the WSL Championship Tour in 2025.
